Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Learn more about Alpha School at https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite
Jack Carr is a master at writing thrillers. He's a former Navy SEAL turned author who loves books and storytelling.
When he walked in, I told him, "I want you to teach me how you write so visually. You're so good at visually taking the minutiae of combat and violence, writing about weapons in a way that comes to life on the page. How do you actually do that?"
And this is a guy whose method clearly works. He publishes a new novel every year, has built a successful writing business, and Amazon Prime adapted his book, The Terminal List, into an original series starring Chris Pratt.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:36 Books that influenced Jack
00:03:50 Turning memories into scenes
00:06:02 The Executive Summary method
00:12:33 There are no writing rules
00:15:21 How to make characters come alive
00:20:03 Writing books vs TV shows
00:22:16 Jack's writing mantras
00:30:02 Breaking down Jack's writing
00:33:58 The key to Jack's research
00:36:20 One notebook per book
00:38:42 The business of selling books
00:42:43 Is it ok to be commercial
00:49:34 How to describe a place that feels alive
00:56:43 Never listen to the odds
00:58:22 What makes good dialogue
01:02:14 What makes his protagonist unique
01:05:57 How to get published
*About the host*
Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.
*Follow me*
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
YouTube: youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
X: https://x.com/david_perell
Learn more about Alpha School at https://go.alpha.school/howiwrite
Jack Carr is a master at writing thrillers. He's a former Navy SEAL turned author who loves books and storytelling.
When he walked in, I told him, "I want you to teach me how you write so visually. You're so good at visually taking the minutiae of combat and violence, writing about weapons in a way that comes to life on the page. How do you actually do that?"
And this is a guy whose method clearly works. He publishes a new novel every year, has built a successful writing business, and Amazon Prime adapted his book, The Terminal List, into an original series starring Chris Pratt.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:36 Books that influenced Jack
00:03:50 Turning memories into scenes
00:06:02 The Executive Summary method
00:12:33 There are no writing rules
00:15:21 How to make characters come alive
00:20:03 Writing books vs TV shows
00:22:16 Jack's writing mantras
00:30:02 Breaking down Jack's writing
00:33:58 The key to Jack's research
00:36:20 One notebook per book
00:38:42 The business of selling books
00:42:43 Is it ok to be commercial
00:49:34 How to describe a place that feels alive
00:56:43 Never listen to the odds
00:58:22 What makes good dialogue
01:02:14 What makes his protagonist unique
01:05:57 How to get published
*About the host*
Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.
*Follow me*
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470
YouTube: youtube.com/@DavidPerellChannel
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv
X: https://x.com/david_perell
